DO NOT COME TO EUROPE! A desperate plea from the European Council president yesterday in Athens: “I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants, wherever you are from. Do not come to Europe. Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing. Greece and any other European country will no longer be a transit country. The Schengen rules will enter into force again.” Thus spake Donald Tusk, March 3, 2016. http://politi.co/1nj0wsd

SUMMIT CHOREOGRAPHY: EU leaders will descend on Brussels Monday for yet another crunch summit on migration. Between now and then officials are scrambling to sketch out compromises between EU countries and Turkey. Tusk used his trip to Athens to make clear that migrants arriving in Greece can no longer expect to transit through the country northwards. Hours later in Ankara at a press conference with Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s prime minister, he reiterated national capitals’ wish to ship economic migrants, i.e., non-refugees, back to Turkey. “It would effectively break the business model of the smugglers,” Tusk said.

— The interior ministers of Germany and Italy have written to the European Commission calling for stronger border controls, a reform of Europe’s asylum system and objective criteria for the redistribution of refugees. La Stampa’s Marco Zatterin was first with the news: http://bit.ly/1ppyc9h. Read their letter here: http://politi.co/1WY3LS2

**INTRODUCING MORGEN EUROPA, POLITICO’s German-language daily briefing on European politics and policy. Written by Managing Editor of Expansion Florian Eder, Morgen Europa is your morning must-read for who and what moves Europe. Starting on Monday it will provide an overview of political topics and policies that shape the daily political routine in Brussels and will become or are relevant for Germany. Click here and login to update your profile**

SAVING SCHENGEN: The Commission will present its roadmap for saving the Schengen agreement today in Brussels. Putting in place a proper EU border and coast guard service is one recommendation, as POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi reported yesterday: http://politi.co/1QmFiV1. But the draft roadmap also contains some sobering figures on the cost of losing Schengen. Reinstated controls could cost cross-border commuters as much as €4.5 billion annually, or 13 million lost nights for the tourism sector. Total costs could amount to between €7 billion and €18 billion annually, according to the Commission report.

GERMANY’S EU ANGST: Germans have little hope other EU countries will help them shoulder the refugee burden. Less than one-fifth of Germans believe the EU will agree on a common approach to the refugee crisis, according to a poll commissioned by Die Welt. A clear majority — 56 percent — believes Germany should cut its EU contributions if Monday’s refugee summit fails. With the regional elections in three states in just over a week, it will be crucial for Angela Merkel to show some progress at Monday’s summit. At a campaign appearance on Thursday, Merkel lashed out at her detractors, the “naysayers.” “They don’t know what they want. They only know what they don’t want. That’s not going to get us anywhere.” http://bit.ly/1OTvptI

It’s Friday morning and I’m Nicholas Hirst, POLITICO’s antitrust reporter, subbing for Ryan Heath, who’s back on Monday. Find me in front of the Commission’s hideous Borschette building staking out an antitrust hearing; or just follow me on Twitter @nicholashirst

ELECTION CORNER…

SLOVAKIA — FICO’S DAY OF RECKONING: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been counting on his hardline rhetoric on migration to shore up support ahead of general elections Saturday. Polls predict a victory of sorts, writes the Financial Times’ Henry Foy: “Fico’s Smer-SD party … is forecast to win the most seats but fall short of its current majority. Such a result would probably force it to strike a deal with the country’s nationalist party in order to stay in office, or see a handful of opposition parties cobble together a shaky coalition to seize power.” http://on.ft.com/1p2pRIJ

— Crucial German regional elections are on Sunday March 13. And “Merkologists” are busier than ever trying to explain the suddenly unpredictable German chancellor, writes Konstantin Richter: http://politi.co/1QwlvAh

IRISH QUAGMIRE: Ireland’s political parties are still puzzling over how to form a government following hung elections last week. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Thursday he would be willing to change parliamentary rules so that smaller parties could gain speaking rights — in a move likely designed to court support for a government led by his party, Fine Gael. But any government will inevitably be unstable: Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Thursday another election is likely within two years. http://bit.ly/1RKJ4I7

— With all this uncertaintyquo vadis the European Commission’s competition probe into Apple’s Irish tax affairs? Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, had seemingly delayed any announcement until after the Irish elections, for fear of announcing potentially toxic news mid-campaign. But the same logic would apply to coalition negotiations, meaning she may have to wait yet longer. Or, an antitrust reporter might ask, is this hung Parliament one big stitch-up to delay an inquiry disliked across the entire Irish political spectrum?

SPAIN’S POLITICAL FOOTBALL: Vestager’s state-aid investigators face a similar conundrum over Spain, where socialist leader Pedro Sánchez is struggling in his bid to form a coalition. Investigators have been probing the close ties between Spain’s football clubs and politicians: A decision against Spain could prove controversial for the wrong reasons if delivered when the country is so divided.

CAN EUROPE TRUMP TRUMP? Stephan Faris, writing in Bloomberg Businessweek, answers that question in the affirmative. “As much as the headlines make him out to be an American phenomenon, in Europe, Trump would fit right in. His mix of nationalistic nativism and economic protectionism has proved a winning formula for far-right parties across the continent. Trump’s rise is reminiscent of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s…” If you haven’t already choked on your muesli, read the story here: http://bloom.bg/1LAy54z

— American neo-cons declare war on Trump: Prominent Republican hawks are debating whether to hold their noses and vote for Clinton instead. http://politi.co/1QNgDG5

MOBILE MERGER MADNESS: As if an EU summit and a Eurogroup were not enough, Brussels will also host an army of telecom execs and lawyers Monday to debate the bid by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings for Telefónica’s U.K. mobile unit, O2, at a closed-door hearing. Remember how European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker promised on the electionstump to make life easier for telco consolidation? The antitrust press pack will be staking out the hearing to find out whether Vestager’s DG COMP got the message.

IN ANTITRUST WE TRUST: On Wednesday Vestager will host Gazprom execs who are in town to discuss her antitrust probe into the Kremlin-controlled gas giant. Cue another round of speculation about whether the Commission will settle a controversial inquiry that set out to stop Gazprom from bullying national capitals in Central and Eastern Europe but has been broadsided by falling gas prices, the conflict in Ukraine and EU bickering over a gas pipeline into Germany.

CAMERON’S JUNGLE STORY: U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron committed £17 million (€22 million) for Calais’s migrant challenges, following a summit with French President François Hollande in Amiens: http://politi.co/1njAlBJ. In the meantime, the French continue to dismantle many dwellings in the Calais Jungle camp, prompting some residents to sew their lips shut as part of a hunger strike in protest: http://cnn.it/1QtPj3W

— Hollande struck a bold note at the press conference with Cameron, warning a Brexit would have, errr, “consequences.”

FRANCE — HOLLANDE’S SEASON IN HELL: “Nearly four months after the November 13 Paris terror attacks that allowed him to recoup some capital of sympathy and raise his perennially low public-approval ratings, the French president is back to where he was: the least popular French president since public opinion started to be polled on the matter in the 1960s.” Pierre Briançon on Hollande’s predicament: http://politi.co/24EVTe9

DEFIANT MEP COMPLAINS: After staring down heavies from Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn, MEP Csaba Sógor has now taken the more mundane step of complaining to European Parliament President Martin Schulz: “[Our] conference was violently disrupted by two MEPs, members of the Popular Association Golden Dawn … and their assistants, some of whom used aggressive language and threats to intimidate both myself and the participants at the discussion.” A spokesperson for Schulz said the matter was being investigated. Letter here: http://politi.co/24Ec775

NO BREXIT — MEP STUCK IN LIFT: Paul Brannen, a U.K. center-left MEP, keeps calm as he carries on recording a video admitting “this may well be my last testimony.” He was freed after an hour and 20 minutes… http://bit.ly/1ppyJId

BREXIT — CAMERON’S NOT-SO-SECRET WEAPON: “If on the morning of June 24, Britain is still a full-fledged member of the European Union, it will be in no small part thanks to Roland Rudd.” Francesco Guerrera profiles the PR executive who has turned into the In campaign’s go-to strategist: http://politi.co/1oTHSbC

BREXIT ODDS & ENDS: Brexitinis — what else?! — were on the menu at a Ladbrokes referendum debate in London Thursday night. When asked to recommend a Brexit bet, Nigel Farage surprised the audience by choosing England voting Leave but the U.K. as a whole voting to Remain at 10/1. It was, in his estimation, “not a bad bet.” He was quick to point out that that wasn’t “the result he wanted,” just in case anyone was in any doubt.

FIRST REFUGEES REACH ROMANIA: 15 refugees from Syria and Yemen arrived in Romania yesterday from Greece, as part of the EU relocation mechanism, the country’s General Inspectorate for Immigration said in a statement. “The group of 15 people is composed of 10 young people and a family made of parents and minors,” it said. The refugees are between seven months old and 50. http://bit.ly/1njvEYP

LIFE IN ISLAMIC STATE: Audio diaries describes the horror of everyday life in the Syrian city of Raqqa. BBC Radio 4: http://bbc.in/24ECvhc

€300 MILLION FOR DAIMLER CONNECTED CARS: At least, that’s the loan the European Investment Bank is potentially floating to the German car maker. The money would partially go towards creating a new safety mechanism that would help transfer data between cars in a matter of milliseconds. Joanna Plucinska and Chris Spillane break the news for POLITICO Pro: http://politi.co/1QOEHsd

BRUGES MAFIA 4 LIFE: Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission’s spokesman, gave an endorsement of sorts to my (and his) alma mater yesterday: “We can have a masterclass on comitology …. Comitology as some of us have learnt after many years of studying at the College in the Europe and elsewhere in this house, has many stages.” http://bit.ly/1TarzEd

— Schinas graduated from Bruges in 1986, a year earlier than Juncker deputy head of cabinet Clara Martinez Alberola. Both, unlike me, are on the list of famous alumni: http://bit.ly/1L6NedS. What more could you want from life?

THIS WEEK’S ‘IN THE LOOP’ PODCAST: Jacopo Barigazzi dissects the Commission’s roadmap to save Schengen; technology reporter Zoya Sheftalovich discusses the privacy shield, the EU-U.S. data protection deal; lobbying reporter James Panichi talks about how Ryanair flew around Ireland’s lobbying laws; and I hold court on Facebook’s German antitrust woes, and what it means for Brussels. Listen in here: http://politi.co/1nk81iH

ON TODAY’S AGENDA: Tusk meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this afternoon; the leaders of France, Germany and Russia will hold a phone call to discuss Syria; President Jean-Claude Juncker receives Thierry Breton, chief executive officer of IT company Atos — this is shaping up to be a yearly event, since the two also met February 2015, so they must have plenty to discuss: http://bit.ly/1QPqZ8q; Commissioners Vestager, Tibor Navracsics and Corina Creţu are all back in their home country today for meetings: http://bit.ly/1LXqCY5

MONDAY: EU summit, Eurogroup and Social Affairs Council in Brussels, European Parliament Plenary in Strasbourg.

MAKINE MADE IMMORTAL: Andreï Makine, author of the sumptuous French-language novel Le Testament Français, about a young Russian’s yearning and journey to France, has been elected to France’s most prestigious literary body, l’Académie Française. Le Monde: http://bit.ly/1Sl7ABN. It is worth noting Makine arrived in France as an irregular migrant in 1986.